Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/253

Rh Bk. VI. Ch. V. BOUND TOWERS. 237 The tower of Devenish (Woodcut No. 672) may be taken as a typical example of the class. It is 82 ft. high, with a conical cap, and its doorway and windows are all of the form and in the position most usually found in monuments of this class. The conical cap is frequently omitted and its place supplied by a battlemented crown ; this is the case at Kildare, and also at Kilree (Woodcut No. 673). In one instance, and, I believe, one only, the base of the tower is octagonal. This is found at Keneith, county Cork (Woodcut No. 674). 1 One of the most beautiful and most perfect is that of Ardmore (Woodcut No. 675). It is of excellent ashlar masonry throughout, and is divided externally into 4 stories by string-courses, which do not, however, mark the position of the floors inside. Its mouldings and details lead to the presumption that it is nearly coeval with Cormac's Chapel, Cashel, and that consequently it must belong to the 12th century. It stands within the precincts of the rude old church mentioned above, and when explored not long ago the skeletons of two persons were found below its founda- tions, placed in such a manner as to lead to the inevitable conclusion that it was a place of Christian burial before the foundations of the tower were laid. The floors which divide the tower into stories are generally of wood, but sometimes of masonry, constructed as that at .Keneith (Woodcut No. 676). There are no stairs, but ladders are; used to pass from one story to the next. Several instances of doorways have been quoted above. Of these no two are exactly alike, though all show the same general charac- teristics. That at Monasterboice, for instance (Woodcut No. 677), has an arch cut out of a horizontal lintel extending the whole way across, while that at Kilcullen (Woodcut No. 678) has the arch cut out of two stones, which is by far the most usual arrangement. The windows are generally headed with two stones meeting at the apex, as in the three examples given below (Woodcut No. 679) ; but sometimes the window-head is either a flat lintel or a single stone cut into the form of an arch, as at Glendalough (Woodcut No. 680). Though these remarkable towers are of extremely various forms, differing according to their age and locality, almost all exhibit that peculiar Cyclopean character of masonry which has led to such 676. Floor in Tower, Keneith. ^ Compare this with the contemporary tower at Ghazni, in the chapters on Saracenic Architecture in the author's volume on Indian Architecture.